A strong stomach is sometimes needed for exhibitions with a medical theme. The 19th century was the high point for terrifying displays of the consequences of the sort of diseases that could be avoided, by men mostly. In the 21st century, the aptly named Wellcome Institute and the Hunterian Museum have made the experience not just child friendly but visually appealing too. Now it’s Malaysia’s turn. ‘Al-Tibb: The Healing Art of Islamic Medicine’ at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia takes the subject to new aesthetic heights.
Medicine has always been a serious business, but this didn’t mean that everything medical had to look as cold, impersonal and quietly alarming as the surgical instruments of today. Collectors of antique Western implements are usually surgeons with a dark sense of humour who spend large amounts of money on tools for hacking and pulling. They marvel at the brass and mahogany finish, often with flourishes of ivory.
The term Golden Age comes up often in the ‘Al-Tibb’ exhibition, which is not a reference to the material that Islamic instruments were made from. They still manage to look attractive although there is less emphasis on surgery and more on healing in general. None of the metaphorical gilding has been removed from those distant centuries when Muslims were among the world’s great healers and ‘Western medicine’ was an expression that hadn’t been coined.
The Crusader solution to severe battle wounds was a bath in the strongest vinegar available. It was the only sort of bath most of them had ever taken, and it wasn’t an experience they were going to forget. Despite the remedy also providing a horrifying spectacle for Muslim observers, it was actually more effective than many of the other offerings from the small Frankish compendium of wellness.
WONDROUS WORLD OF HEALING
The ‘Al-Tibb’ exhibition doesn’t waste time on comparisons between East and West; its purpose is to provide a comprehensive overview of a subject that has rarely been tackled with such thoroughness. By using the collection of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, it has become much more than a catalogue of medical treatises. There are artefacts that bring us closer to the flavour of the time in a huge variety of locations. From West Africa to East Asia, there is an abundance of objects.
The majority of the ‘Al-Tibb’ displays are manuscripts, some with fascinating illustrations and most with useful texts. The contribution of the Islamic world continues to this day, but the biggest strides happened in those times that are still alluded to in the tales of the 1001 Nights. The ‘Bayt al-Hikmat’ (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad was significant enough for it to be known in northern Europe. The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne took an interest, although he was probably more excited by the elephant that was sent to him by Harun al-Rashid.
The most worthwhile aspect of this exhibition, apart from the exhibits themselves, is that it shows the continuity of interest from the Islamic world. Medical curiosity did not end with the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258. Although the vast majority of the manuscripts are from much later, they are still filled with wonder at the world of healing. Nor was all the learning Greek and Persian, although these two great cultures were an essential inspiration for the Islamic world. The contribution of later physicians from unexpected corners of the planet is just as significant. The Malay Archipelago, for example, was not the go-to place for many in the Islamic heartlands but some of the most interesting content in the exhibition is from there. The message was out in earlier centuries, occasionally. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed III (d.1603) reputedly insisted on a cure to his ailment being brought from Aceh, Sumatra.
SOLID FOUNDATION
For the curious who are less well informed than Ottoman rulers, there is a panoply items from the Malay world and beyond. One of the glories of hand-illustrated medical treatises is that the viewer is spared the remorseless realism of modern photography. A disease as visually distressing as Yaws is rendered as something positively appealing in the hands of whichever anonymous Malay artist showed the patterns of this infection in the form of crocodiles and the especially deadly ‘three grains running’.
The same applies to illustrations from other parts of the Islamic world in the pre-photographic era. There was plentiful use of the imagination. A manual from 18th century India discusses a winged fox, which is charmingly drawn in ink without any need for more convincing visual evidence.
The non-manuscript artefacts tend to be accessories rather than tools. There are some scalpels and other metal devices, but many of the objects in the exhibition would have been used for divinatory purposes rather than hacking and sawing. This is, of course, a contentious area for many.
Superstition can lead to idolatry, which is vigorously proscribed in Islam. There is no finer writer on this subject than the Oxford-based, world-respected Malaysian scholar Farouk Yahya. His introduction to the exhibition catalogue is a pleasure to read in addition to being a a source of valuable information. He delicately treads the fine line between what is and what should be, highlighting many of the practices that push ‘alternative medicine’ to the limit.
The exhibition and catalogue provide as solid a foundation to the subject as is likely to exist for a while. It even has plenty for animal lovers. The section on equine medicine is a delight that teaches us how to estimate the age of a horse. The exhibition does, however, come with a disclaimer about actually using the remedies contained therein.
AL-TIBB: HEALING TRADITIONS IN ISLAMIC MEDICAL MANUSCRIPTS
WHERE: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Jalan Lembah Perdana, Tasik Perdana, KL
WHEN: March 19 to Dec 31, 2018